1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a vehicle seat, by means of which a covering surface member is bonded to a pre-formed foam cushion member having an outer contour of a seat, so as to provide a seat for vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Commonly, the manufacture of a seat for use in a vehicle or an automobile has been based on a bonding method by which a covering surface member is bonded to a pre-formed cushion member. It has been well accepted in terms of rapidity and simplicity. For instance, reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2. A cushion member (9') is a pre-formed foam mass which has been formed by a mold into a predetermined shape of a seat cushion (A) or a seat back (B). In a practical process, an adhesive is applied to the outer surface of the cushion member (9'), while on the other hand, a covering surface member (4') is first prepared with its peripheral lateral part (4a') being provisionally turned reversely as can be seen by the phantom line (in which it is viewed as being turned upwardly). Then, the covering surface member (4') is bonded to the cushion member (9'), after which, the peripheral lateral part (4'a) of the covering surface member (4) is turned back to its original position as shown by the solid line. In this way, a vehicle seat as shown in FIG. 1 is obtained.
There has been known an apparatus for forming a vehicle seat in the above-stated manner, which comprises an upper die and a lower die, the upper die being vertically movable relative to the lower die. Using this apparatus, the cushion member (9') is secured on the upper die and the covering surface member (4') is placed on the lower die. Thus, by lowering the upper die towards the lower die, the cushion member (9'), on an upper surface of which has been applied an adhesive, is pressed against the covering surface member (4') which is at this moment in such a state wherein its peripheral lateral part (4'a) is turned reversely and disposed as if it covered the upper part of the lower die, although not shown but as can be assumed from the phantom line in the FIG. 2, whereby the covering surface member (4') is bonded to the cushion member (9').
However, the apparatus of this kind is only provided with a single set of upper and lower dies adapted for forming either of the seat cushion (A) and seat back (B), and has been found defective in that a plurality of seat cushions and seat backs, for example, are not produced in sequence and the apparatus per se is unsuitable for a rapid mass-production of those two different seat elements. Thus, according to this prior art, there is a troublesome need for replacement of dies for producing each different seat cushion or seat back, or alternatively, it becomes necessary to provide another apparatus for that purpose. Consequently, the prior art apparatus is disadvantageous in terms of working efficiency and costs involved.